Full disclosure: I struggle with much of what I see in Independent Baptist churches. I try not to be cranky or curmudgeonly, but some things in our tradition drive me crazy. I’m not leaving, and I’m not ungrateful for my heritage. I’ve been an Independent Baptist for over 40 years, since around 1980. I’m not leaving, recovering, reforming, or trashing the trailer park. But much of what I see in our movement is unbiblical. 

For the most part, I can control where I fellowship, one of the more appreciated parts of being an Independent Baptist. I am in Utah, so I get left alone (or ignored), and I’m good with that too. When I am on vacation, let’s say I am very selective about the kind of church I will take my family to visit. And even with my careful research into churches, we have rarely visited an Independent Baptist Church on vacation that we enjoyed. That might be too candid for some, but it is the honest truth. Independent Baptists smirk at expository preaching – it’s too “intellectual” for them. They don’t place a high value on the words of God – despite their nearly rabid commitment to the King James. I find it ironic, in fact, that so many make a big deal about the form of the words and place so little emphasis on the words themselves. 

I’m now in my fifties – not an old man, but no longer young. I’ve been committed to our movement and have publicly defended it. I’ve let myself be tagged as “one of them.”  So, I’m not here trying to make a name for myself by trashing the IFB, and I’m not trying to run a ghetto parade, looting all the stores on Mainstreet, IFB. At this stage in my ministry, candor is appropriate and necessary. I’m not asking anyone to like what I am saying. My ministry hasn’t been built on good-ole-boys style glad-handing. If I have a reputation for anything, it is bluntness, an appropriate gift for the present moment.

My first post covered two things I wish would change among Independent Baptist Churches. Here are two more of the ten on my list. 

Holy Ghost kook-ery

I’m no fan of the “Bapti-costal” tag. Mainly because I don’t see charismatic theology in the Bible anywhere. And I do mean “anywhere.”  Looking for Pentecostalism in the Bible is like looking for fire at the bottom of the ocean – if you find it there, you should swim away fast – like in shark-is-chasing-you fast. 

But Baptists have picked up far too much of their view of the Holy Spirit from the Pentecostals. And the most common way this shows up is in the way we think God speaks to us with His special whisper, telling us things that He tells nobody else. “God told me to… (fill in the blank)” has become the preacher’s trump card to get whatever he wants.

I wouldn’t doubt that sincere and godly men have made the claim. No doubt they believed that God really did speak to them, telling them to do extra-biblical things like buy a camp or start a boy’s home. But this view of how the Holy Spirit operates cannot be found anywhere in Scripture. If you think God would have you build an Olympic-sized swimming pool in the church’s backyard, go for it. But please, don’t claim that the Holy Spirit communicated with you directly on this. Because He didn’t.

It would be good to take a little time to understand the Holy Spirit’s ministry to us according to the Bible. Here in Utah, the “Holy Spirit” tells people lots of things. Usually, he tells them that the LDS church is the true church and that Joseph Smith is a true prophet. And why not? Those who believe the Holy Spirit speaks directly to them have turned Him into an enormous blackboard where they can write almost anything their heart desires. Among Independent Baptists, the content of the blackboard will usually include stuff related to buildings, buses, and Bible Colleges.

Still, I have to ask, where do we get this notion that the Holy Spirit tells us things He doesn’t tell anyone else? Typically, the answer goes something like this: “Doesn’t the Holy Spirit guide us into all truth?” 

I’m glad you asked. Let’s take a look.

I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. (John 16:12-14)

Oh, but Jesus didn’t promise His disciples a special whisper from God. He told them they couldn’t bear to hear all He had to say to them. When He said that, they were in the upper room where Jesus was preparing them for His crucifixion.

Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit came, He would guide them into all truth. He would fill in what Jesus refrained from saying in the upper room when they were overwhelmed. And He would do this so the Word of God would be given to the church.   What Jesus said in John 16 should be understood in terms of what He said in John 14 – in the same upper room. 

These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:25-26)

How could the disciples possibly remember all that Jesus had told them? In the moment, they could hardly comprehend what was about to happen. Jesus made them responsible for sharing what He taught them with the rest of the believing world. Thus, the Holy Spirit would teach them all things and bring all things to their remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. He would not speak of Himself but would repeat what He heard (thus, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost). Jesus didn’t promise continuing revelation, and Independent Baptists should know better. Jesus promised to build His church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, He Himself being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20).   We have no expectation of continuing revelation. In fact, we should reject that notion out of hand. 

God promises to guide us if we trust in Him with all our hearts “and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6). We don’t need a special voice to be confident that He directs our paths.

Splashing in the shallows, not swimming in the deep end

Let’s face it: we like to stick to the surface when approaching Scripture. If we ever happen to put in a spade, we hardly get below the grass line. We might stick our heads below water briefly, but we quickly pull back so we can breathe again. When it comes to the Bible, we aren’t much for snorkeling even. We certainly don’t care to do any deep-sea diving.

For many, this is a matter of doctrine. We have a conviction that we must not dive too deep or dig into Scripture all that much. We tell ourselves that people won’t come, or they just don’t have an appetite for it, or (my personal favorite) deep dives into Scripture will kill the church (as if God’s Word would have that effect on a congregation). We treat Scripture like a can of concentrate: we add water and stir vigorously.

Let’s ditch that kind of “conventional wisdom.” After all, what self-respecting IFB pastor listens to that junk?! Here’s some uncommon sense: the more we dig into God’s Word, the more it dwells in us richly. And the more richly it dwells in us, the livelier we become. 

O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this. (Psalm 92:5-6)

I find it hard to imagine that believers want to ignore the majority of Scripture in favor of a handful of “preachable” texts out of context. In twenty-plus years of preaching, I haven’t found that God’s people drown when they swim in the deep end of the pool. Quite the opposite. Once we learn to swim, we only want the deep end. Sure, we need the shallow end. Novice swimmers need a place to start. But we want to find water for swimming. Dive deep and know the mind of God. 

How much Scripture is neglected because we don’t think our people can handle strong meat. Milk is suitable for the babes. Meat strengthens the bones. But too many churches put all the food in a blender and spoon-feed it to the church like baby food. Nothing makes a church weaker or more feeble. Give them red meat, cooked just right (a dark shade of pink in the middle), and see how they grow.

It is silly and ridiculous to insist on superficial preaching with a tidy little outline that majors on application to the neglect of sound interpretation. Shallow churches lose people to the “expository” churches because people don’t care to starve. Application that is disjointed from interpretation is opinionation, and God’s people cannot thrive on opinionation. We have to give our people a reason for our application, which in turn has to come from Scripture. Otherwise, it isn’t application at all. 

I notice that in the fall, orchards trim their trees pretty close. Though the trees are quite ancient, they are still very small. The reason seems clear enough to me. Bigger trees will produce higher volume but lower quality. Smaller trees produce better fruit. Jesus preached to thousands, but He had only twelve disciples. Even so, the “mile wide, inch deep” kind of ministry can only possibly work until people figure out where to find water for swimming. And when they find the deep end, they no longer want the splash pad. 

Brethren, preach the passage. Dig in. Show what it means and why it says what it says. Then, show the church what they should do with it. That’s Bible preaching. And we desperately need Bible preaching.